


The Greatest Leaders Never Asked to Lead

by ArchitectOfTheStars (AdaEinar)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (Why is that not a tag?), Actually there is some fluff, Becoming a Leader, Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), But it sure isn't fluff, But the others are here to help, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Emotional Support, Friendship, I need fluff during social isolation, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith Character Study I Guess, Keith isn't alone, Leader Keith (Voltron), Leadership, Poor Keith, Team as Family, With the support of friends, it's not that angsty, leadership is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdaEinar/pseuds/ArchitectOfTheStars
Summary: Keith didn't want to be a leader. And, if the universe had any sense to it, he shouldn't have been.But Shiro asked him to lead. The black lion chose him. So he was stuck in this role.Fortunately, he has the others to help him figure it out.
Relationships: Allura & Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Shiro

**Author's Note:**

> So . . . Keith “becoming a leader” is an arc that had a lot of potential, but wasn’t very well executed in the show (to no one’s surprise). Honestly, I believe it wasn’t really the right Keith arc at all—it makes more sense to have his arc be discovering his identity through his family, (or sexuality if that’s what you like), and dealing with his emotions. (Because boy does Keith need to deal with his emotions. Poor kid.) That being said, leadership is a concept that absolutely fascinates me, so I wanted to try writing a short fic following one of the many paths he could’ve taken to becoming a true leader, with the help of the other paladins.
> 
> There's no shipping in this, although you can read it as implied if that's your thing.

“Keith . . . if I don’t make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron.”

A thousand thoughts flash through Keith’s mind, and as always, he can’t quite pin down and articulate any of them.

Why me?

Not me.

Don’t die on me, Shiro.

What’s it like to lead?

I want to lead.

Never me. Never me.

Because I’m your friend, or because I’d make a good leader?

If you say things like that, you probably will end up . . . passing away. So don’t.

Keith barely manages to grab hold of the last one. “Don’t say things like that,” he says, his voice cracking with intensity. The other thoughts, as numerous as the stars in the sky, are unspoken, but Shiro hears them anyway.

But he can’t answer, because the wound is getting to him. Shiro shakes his head and leans back down—only then did Keith notice he’d tried to sit up—and closes his eyes, murmuring something in a barely audible whisper.

Keith doesn’t pressure him to answer. He isn’t worried. Because Shiro is going to make it out of this alive if Keith has any say in how the universe works. And they’ll be able to talk about it later.

* * *

They don’t talk about it later.

There’s something almost taboo about bringing up what someone said when they were on death’s doorstep. Keith’s learned that from his time as a paladin. You may share tender moments with people when you think you’re about to die, when you’re too weak to think clearly. They’re real, but you don’t speak of them after they happen. Almost as if to respect others’ privacy, or perhaps just to avoid the tension of emotion.

Lance won’t acknowledge their bonding moment. Pidge will never admit she missed them in the nebula of space trash. Keith tries not to mention the rage he slipped into the first time they confronted Zarkon. And Shiro never brought up what he said on that lonely, deserted desert planet. 

They never discuss who would lead if they lost Shiro. It was too unthinkable to speak of. 

Keith never minded. It didn’t matter anyway. 

Until one day, it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was literally just a transcription of a canonical conversation. I promise, the next chapter will be less canon-y. (Everything will be canon compliant, but—except for the first part of the next chapter—not actually _in_ canon.)


	2. Lance

Keith stares at the controls, emotions churning just below his surface.

Inside the black lion, things are calmer. He doesn’t have the others staring at him. He’s alone with the memory of Shiro—who is not gone, but will never again really be there, either.

He doesn’t want to disrupt the peace by speaking. But he came here with a job, and Shiro would’ve never let mourning get in the way of saving the universe.

Do what Shiro would want.

He gently places his shaking hands on the controls, staring out the window into the darkness of space, hoping nothing will happen and expecting something nonetheless. The desire to live up to Shiro wars with his desire to preserve his old friend.

“I know you wanted this from me, Shiro,” he says quietly. As if Shiro can hear him. “But I’m not you. I can’t lead them like you.”

And he doesn’t want to, for so many reasons. He can’t replace Shiro. He can’t lead. He doesn’t want to. 

The black lion doesn’t react. Slowly, he feels himself relax, just slightly. Maybe things will turn out OK.

As he stands up to leave, the black lion awakes.

Lights flash across the controls, and glowing circles begin spinning on the windows. The seat moves, readjusting itself to his smaller body, and the handle controls bend forward in the perfect position for him to grip them. Dials begin spinning on the control screens, as if waiting for him.

As Keith’s world crumbles around him, he reaches out and places his hands on the steering controls.

There’s no doubt about it. Keith can’t delude himself. The black lion responds to his touch, bending down and opening its mouth to the other five standing outside the lion. They smile at him through the window, but he can’t smile.

“Please, _no_ . . .” he begs. But the lion won’t listen. It’s chosen him.

As he leaves the lion, even as he despises invading the memory Shiro left in it, he realizes that Black must’ve already been helping him somehow. Because he notices things he never would’ve seen before in his friends’ faces. The hidden mourning in Allura’s eyes at losing Shiro, yet another person she loved. The warm, selfless pride in Hunk’s smile. The joy at being able to form Voltron again in Pidge’s expression. 

The disappointment and jealousy on Lance’s face.

“I’m proud of you, Keith,” Allura says gently. “I wish you were getting the job under better circumstances, but congratulations.” 

“Congratulations, Keith,” Pidge grins.

“Yeah, man,” says Hunk. “Ditto.” 

“No.” The sureness in Keith’s voice surprises him, but he knows it shouldn’t. He’s rarely felt as strongly about something as he does about this, and he feels strongly about everything. He refuses to replace Shiro. “I don’t accept this.”

Everyone gasps in surprise, except Lance. Lance just looks tired.

“You must. The black lion has chosen you.” The conviction in Allura’s voice makes Keith wince. It’s too similar to how Shiro would sound, if he knew Keith was turning this down. But Shiro is, in part, who he’s doing this for.

“I can’t replace Shiro,” he explains. “You guys were right, I’m the loner. I’m not the leader Shiro thought I was.”

Shiro was wrong. It hurts to admit, but Shiro just picked Keith because he was Keith’s friend. Not because Keith could lead. Leadership was something that some people could do and others couldn’t—and Keith couldn’t. He was too isolated, too reckless.

And he couldn’t bear to sit in the same seat as Shiro, undermine his memory and presence and obliterate his value.

Lance steps forward, hand reaching out as if he wants to say something, but Keith walks away before he can.

* * *

Lance has no trouble finding Keith, which isn’t too surprising, since Keith is—as always—training. Still, Keith feels a little annoyed that he was located so easily. Or maybe he’s just annoyed that anyone bothered. He clearly wants to be alone right now, after all.

But Lance has never been one to leave people alone. 

“Hey, buddy.”

Keith acknowledges him with eye contact but says nothing, instead focusing on swinging his sword—still red, and if Keith has any say about it, it will always be red—at the hovering globes surrounding him.

“ _Keith_.”

Keith deflects a laser and focuses on the drone that had fired, predicting its path and swinging his sword to meet it in midair—

 _Clang_.

Lance’s blue bayard is pressed up against Keith’s, unactivated. Lance had intercepted his strike before it hit the drone. Keith knew he’d put a lot of force into his swing, so Lance’s arm should be aching, but Lance just glares at Keith, unbothered by any pain.

“Dude. I want to talk to you.”

Keith retracts his bayard and calls to the drones, “end simulation.” There is, as always, a moment where he expects them to not comply, but they do. They whir downward and retract into the floor.

Keith folds his arms across his chest and waits for Lance to speak.

Lance stares at him for a moment, as if unsure of what to say, then begins filling up the air with his words. “Keith, the black lion chose you.”

“I can’t lead. Not like Shiro—”

“We’re not _asking_ you to lead like Shiro. No one can replace Shiro. We all know that. But the black lion chose you because it knows you have potential for leadership.” Lance averts his eyes, and his next words are quieter, as if he had to fight to get them out. “Not everyone has that potential. The black lion doesn’t choose anyone. Today showed that.”

“It only chose me because Shiro—”

“If the black lion had picked me to be leader, I would’ve led Voltron, regardless of what Shiro wanted. But the black lion wants you. Not because of Shiro, but because you can _lead_ , Keith.”

_This is coming from Lance? Lance, the guy who hates me?_

Lance sighs, sitting down with his arms folded over his chest, mirroring Keith—probably intentionally. He stares at the wall on the other side of the training room, in the exact opposite direction from Keith. Keith can’t help but think, again, that the black lion is helping him somehow. Helping him notice things about people he never would notice otherwise.

“You know I’d be the last person to admit it, but you can lead. And we’ll follow you.” He finally meets Keith’s eyes. “I respect the black lion’s choice. And you should too.”

And again, this is coming from _Lance_. Lance is the last person Keith would’ve expected this from. Allura would try to motivate him without a second thought, for Voltron. Hunk wouldn’t hesitate to lie his head off to make Keith feel better. Even Pidge wants Keith to lead Voltron enough that she would say anything to get him back in the cockpit.

But Lance wants to lead Voltron himself, not watch Keith do so. Lance is here to be honest, not to lie to make Keith feel better.

Keith is surprised to find that he respects Lance’s judgement. Not only that, but he can tell Lance really believes it. He can see Lance setting aside his own desires for what’s right—which is something, funnily enough, that _Keith_ is supposed to be good at.

If Lance can do it . . .

If Lance really believes Keith can do it . . .

Maybe Shiro wasn’t wrong. Maybe he can.

Keith sighs and turns away from Lance, walking out of the training room. Behind him, Lance stands up. “Woah! Hey! Where are you going?”

“To go fly the black lion. We need to form Voltron, don’t we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, OK. _This moment_. The moment where Keith says, “please, _no_ ”. . . it always hits me so hard. I know with Keith, he’s mostly turning aside his leadership role out of respect for Shiro—and belief that he, as a loner, won’t do it very well—but I think it also acknowledges just how awful being stuck in a leadership role can be. Sure, you have power, but it _sucks_. It’s so lonely. It’s so stressful. It’s so isolating. There’s so much acting, so much juggling of people and personalities and decisions. And that quiet but emotionally loaded “please, _no_ ” is _exactly_ how I would react if I were in Keith’s position. Desperately not wanting this role, but knowing that I have to swallow my personal desires and live for the people I lead. Hating it, but knowing that I can’t show how scared I am.
> 
> This is one of the things that made me actually like Keith—this, and the scene at the end of s01 where he genuinely suggests just leaving Allura behind. (I can always respect characters with a sense of perspective, as unsavory as it is.) Without those two moments, for me, he’d be an extremely boring character. But that little “please, _no_ . . . gosh, I can’t really explain it, but it’s just so heartbreaking. Hope I communicated that with this rewrite.
> 
> Also, I promise that the next three chapters (cuz there are only five chapters) won’t be as derived from the show as the last two have been. They’ll be canon compliant (as disappointed as I am by the canon), but they won’t be _in_ canon.
> 
> (Boy I really regret writing in present tense. Present tense always lends a certain in-the-moment feeling of empathy to a story, but it’s so hard to not switch back to past tense. Remind me to never do that again.)


End file.
